Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week

Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week is a week long festival of cricket where for one week (usually during the May–June Half-Term) Kent County Cricket Club play their home matches at the Nevill Ground in Royal Tunbridge Wells.[1] Games held during it are considered some of Kent's most popular fixtures.[2]

Contents

History

The cricket week has been running since 1902 with a festival being held the previous year to celebrate the opening of the ground.[3] Due to Kent's dropping of Mote Park in Maidstone in 2005[4] and in addition to the County Cricket Ground in Beckenham, London the Nevill Ground is currently one of Kent's two outgrounds with all other home matches being played at the St. Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.[4] The week also has had a poem written about the fixtures during it.[5]

Contents

A traditional cricket week at The Nevill Ground usually comprised one County Championship game and one limited overs game. With the advent of Twenty20 cricket, the one day game was replaced with a Twenty20 game. In 2011, as a reward for good support the previous year, Kent announced they would play two Twenty20 games at the cricket week instead of the usual one.[6] This may also be a way of compensating the Tunbridge Wells fans because a reduction of Twenty20 fixtures from 2012 may cause most games to be played at the St. Lawrence Ground in order to make the most of new floodlights installed in 2011 meaning that Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week might not host a Twenty20 game after 2011.[7]

Games

Games during the cricket week are often high scoring due to the pitch at the Nevill Ground being considered a batting paradise.[8] This could be seen during the 2010 County Championship game against Nottinghamshire where 1242 runs were scored despite the game being hit with rain.[9]

References

  1. ^ Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week. "Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/image_galleries/tunbridge_wells_cricket_week_june_2006_gallery.shtml?1. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  2. ^ Gidley, Andrew (2010-06-03). "Tunbridge Wells Festival Week can pull in the crowds for Kent". Kent Messenger. http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/sport/2010/june/3/the_nevill.aspx. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  3. ^ "Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club, cricket, kent, uk". Tunbridge Wells cricket club. http://www.tunbridgewellscc.org.uk/history.php. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  4. ^ a b "Kent end 140-year Maidstone deal". BBC News. 2005-09-30. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/kent/4297278.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  5. ^ Hopps, David (2010-06-04). "County cricket – as it happened". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jun/04/county-cricket-live. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  6. ^ "Two Twenty20 fixtures feature at 'special' Tunbridge Wells festival". Your Tunbridge Wells. http://www.yourtunbridgewells.co.uk/p_150/Article/a_13974/Two_Twenty20_fixtures_feature_at_special_Tunbridge_Wells_festival. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  7. ^ "Reduction in Twenty20 cricket a major blow to Kent". Your Canterbury. 2011-03-23. http://www.yourcanterbury.co.uk/p_139/Article/a_12411/Reduction_in_Twenty20_cricket_a_major_blow_to_Kent. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  8. ^ By glenn garrett (2011-04-15). "FOR struggling Kent, a week playing cricket in Tunbridge Wells could be just what the doctor ordered". Thisiskent.co.uk. http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/sport/s-county-week-s-time-deliver/article-3596949-detail/article.html. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  9. ^ "Nottinghamshire meander to draw with Kent". BBC Sport. 2010-06-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/8726698.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-28.